NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women’s soccer played out a 0-0 draw against Louisiana on Thursday night at the ODU Soccer Complex. The Monarchs now sit at 3-5-1 overall and are 1-0-1 in the Sun Belt.
“It was a good game vs a good opponent,” said ODU head coach Will Roberts. “I believe both teams knew each other's strengths well and game planned accordingly. We felt as though we dealt with their attacking threats very well, and with the conditions on the wind, managed the game well in possession. We should take confidence from two clean sheets in a row, and we will continue to work on our attacking threat as we look towards App State this weekend. Proud of the team's effort tonight.”
It was a windy and damp night in the 757 and those conditions held out until the final whistle. The Monarchs played with the wind at their backs in the first 45 and had the lion’s share of their chances in it.
Ally Richardson and Koto Davis both had their first shots of the game blocked by UL defenders in the sixth and 13th minute, respectively. Louisiana’s (7-2-2, 1-0-1 SBC) Carson Glenn had the Ragin’ Cajuns first attempt blocked by ODU’s Ashlynn Kulha away for a corner kick. The Silver and Blue dealt with the first but played it out of bounds and then immediately cleared the danger with the second attempt.
UL’s Addison Soehn had one of the away team’s best chances to score in the 30th minute. ODU’s goalkeeper Ellie Goodrich was loose with her outfield distribution and a bad touch by a Monarchs’ midfielder led to Soehn sniffing out the loose ball and catching Goodrich far off her line. With the wind in her face she tried to shoot over the top of Goodrich but the gusts brought the ball down for an easy save. ODU had three shots blocked by UL defenders consecutively all in the 33rd minute. Ashley Economopoulos, Ashlynn Kulha, and Mia Serna each had their attempts at the net blocked shortly after the initial contact was made. Dylan McEntarfer had ODU’s first shot on goal in the 37th on a corner kick delivery by Richardson. McEntarfer was unmarked at the far post, she headed it towards the near post of UL’s goal but Natalie Mayes was able to get both hands on the header to stop it from going any further.
Louisiana had one more corner kick in the 43rd but decided to play it short and nothing came from it as the first half ended, 0-0.
The Monarchs played against the wind in the second half but were able to find a shot from Madison Telmer 40 seconds into it. She lined up her shot low and to the left but Mayes was quick to pounce on the ball for her second save. Carson had the Cajun’s first shot of the second half after taking on three ODU defenders to create some space, she found a hole and shot but could not put the attempt on target.
Louisiana had the next four shot attempts but only one forced Goodrich into action. Maiya Clark fired off target in the 70th, Carson had a shot off target in the 73rd, Lanie Benoit was also off the mark in the 76th, but Carson’s attempt in the 80th forced Goodrich into making her second save of the evening. Louisiana had the final chance at goal from the Sun Belt’s leading goalscorer Miku Kurihara in the 89th but her left footed shot sailed over the net. ODU held possession for the final minute but didn’t force the issue as the game ended with the score 0-0.
ODU’s McEntarfer, Libby Holmes, and Ashlynn Kulha all played a full 90 minutes on Thursday night in the outfield. McEntarfer and Telmer led the Monarchs with one shot on goal each. ODU had seven shots on the night to UL’s eight while ODU held a +2-corner kick attempt differential.
Goodrich played the full 90 minutes and recorded her third clean sheet of the season while making two saves to keep the game level.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion heads to Boone, North Carolina for a Sun Belt East Division matchup against the Mountaineers this Sunday at 1 p.m.